


A Few Condolences

by faorism



Series: Amity's Folly [2]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Gen Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-09
Updated: 2010-09-09
Packaged: 2017-10-11 15:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/113736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faorism/pseuds/faorism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the loss of six crewmen, Bones stops by Jim's room for a drink.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Few Condolences

One: Lieutenant Da'biiog Montly of Delta-Gorge's Fai. He had two wives, thirteen saplings and (as he once told Jim in a conversation started when they found themselves waiting for the replicator to produce their meals) a seh'lat he had imported to entertain the family in his absence. "My First jests I have the appearance similar to the beast though I am so clever she does not mind when we marry. Her words carry weight and the family laughs with the image." Faibians do not have any concept of tense other than the present even when they learn Standard like Montly did. Sure, they understand the passage of time, of course, but they believe it's not only unnecessary to distinguish past and future and present and everything in between, but it's disrespectful to do so when speaking of the dead. Jim will have to remember that when writing his condolences.

Two: Ensign Henrietta Goodwin of Sol's Terra. Her mother, father and sister live somewhere in the African Confederation: where exactly, Jim does not know. He doesn't really know much else about her: this was her first long-term voyage, she more often than not worked Gamma shift, and she sometimes joined Uhura's random concerts in the rec room as a sweet alto. He heard once that she didn't marry her live-in girlfriend when she joined the _Enterprise_; that she didn't want to leave a wife behind that she may never see again. But that's just the rumor. (Later, when Jim prepares Goodwin's last wishes, among those who should be contacted is listed a Ms. Jean Filip under _PARTNER(S) [SPOUSE(S)/BONDMATE(S)/SIMILAR PARTIES]_.)

Three: Ensign Aion Tenna of Sol's Terra. Father died in space before birth, mother to illness shortly after his second birthday, and raised in an orphanage until his excellent grades earned him a scholarship to the best boarding school in Argentina. As a child, he dreamt about working the Jefferies like his old man. As a man, he volunteered to do every job he could in the tubes and Scotty always gave them to him, laughing as he told Jim that Starfleet needs more men like good, reliable Tenna.

Four: Ensign Alexander Higgins of Sol's Terra. He had just joined the _Enterprise_, transferred over only a month or so before. Jim didn't have the chance to get to know him.

Five: Science Officer T'By'laj of Vulcan. Jim knows next to nothing about her: she was shy even for a Vulcan. Jim would often find her working in the labs and only rarely did she leave with the landing party. She did not like plomeek soup. The _Enterprise_ was her fourth tenure, and she probably would have joined at least four more—five or six, even, if she pushed it. M'Benga will handle her remains.

Six: Ensign Zmathine Ling-Jones of Sol's Terra. Jim knew her since their days at the Academy, and he has an endless amount of tidbits and factoids about her stored in his memory. For example, her mother only married her father after he shaved the beard he hadn't cut for a decade. Twenty years older than his wife, the man had managed to marry and divorce eleven times and feared that his relationship with Ms. Ling would end up being yet another one of his failures. Even so, he shaved his beloved beard because he still had hope. They still live together on some trading post three light years away from Terra selling tea from all across the galaxy. Aside from her parents, Jim knows that Zmathy enjoyed eating non-replicated crackers with every meal, enjoyed dancing in loose skirts because of how they twirled about her as she moved, enjoyed waking up late on Sundays, and enjoyed the few times Jim drew her into his Academy dorm room all those years ago. They were nothing more than casual, playful and occasionally, wonderously _there_, and they would have had it no other way. Jim had smiled fondly when he read her name on the ship's roster, knowing he would have to be professional, but goddammit, it wasn't like he'ld forget about the time they shared...

But now, she was gone. Gone like the rest of them. Six of his crew lost in a single day. There was:  
One: Lieutenant Da'biiog Montly, who, despite what his first wife said, hadn't looked like a seh'lat at all;  
Two: Ensign Henrietta Goodwin, with a partner she did not marry for fear of exactly this;  
Three: Ensign Aion Tenna, a man who managed to do exactly what he wanted to do for a living;  
Four: Ensign Alexander Higgins, just transferred and who Jim knows nothing about;  
Five: Science Officer T'By'laj, whose mind still had so much good to offer the world;  
and, finally, six: dear Zmathy Ling-Jones... her cheeks dimpled when she smiled, but she would smile no more.

And the names, they burn in his mind: Da'biiog Montly. Henrietta Goodwin. Aion Tenna. Alexander Higgins. T'By'laj. Maybe if... Dear Zmathy Ling-Jones. A mantra of loss. He hears them again and again in his mind. Their ranks are gone; there is only them and their names and what he glimmered off of the few times he met with them. Da'biiog Montly. If only Jim had... Henrietta Goodwin. Aion Tenna. Maybe if he had gone down with them...

"Jim."

Alexander Higgins. "What brings you in, Bones?" A mantra of sacrificed possibilities. T'By'laj. Dear Zmathy Ling-Jones.

With a curl to his lips, Bones approaches Jim and it is then that Jim notices a glimmer of light catching glass between his friend's hands. The shape of the bottle is unmistakable, as is the amber liquid it contains. "Nothing more than the epiphany that it'ld be a goddamned shame to not to share this sweet nectar of the gods." Bones pats the whiskey with two gentle slaps in mock-reverence.

Jim laughs, but makes no movement accepting the offer. Da'biiog Montly. Henrietta Goodwin. Aion Tenna.  "You sure you haven't gotten so used to my glowing face that you can't drink without the sight of it?" Alexander Higgins.

"Well, if that's the fucking 'thank you' I'm going to get," Bones drawls with a vague shrug of his shoulders and an upturn in his gaze, "I should just leave and find someone who'll damn appreciate what I've to offer them."

T'By'laj. Dear Zmathy Ling-Jones. Jim chides, "Scotty's probably fast asleep by now, and I won't have you waking my Chief of Engineering to toss back a few." Da'biiog Montly. Henrietta Goodwin. Bones leans against the desk, one foot lazily crossing the other, his eyes careful but ringed with a welcome that Bones can never fully erase.

"Oh no, Jim. I was talking about that green-blooded _angel_ we have flying 'bout the ship. Think Spock'll be up this late?"

Jim, grinning widely now, pulls open the top drawer of his desk and takes out the two glasses he indiscreetly keeps stowed there. Aion Tenna. "But Bones, the scandal it would cause!"

"You're right. I imagine the whole lot of yeomen'ld be in such a goose frenzy that nothing'ld get done the entire week." The wrinkles at the side of Bones' mouth contort as he attempts to keep an honest straight face, but by how pronounced his accent is becoming, Bones is failing but neither he nor Jim mind in the least. It's probably for the best that Bones had started on the whiskey before he came in. Alexander Higgins. Because even though Jim won't say that he prefers his friend utterly inebriated, this chatty drunken side of Bones definitely makes the banter that much smoother. "Better stay here. Can't let the ship be without her clerical duties complete."

Instead of laughing as he plans to, Jim sighs heavily and doesn't say anything more. T'By'laj. Pouring the whiskey into the twin cups, Dear Zmathy Ling-Jones Jim raises his glass, mumbles, "To boldly go," and begins to bring the foul-smelling beverage to his lips: he is stopped by the shaking of his friend's head. Bones' face clears—completely neutral but not in an unpleasant, awkward way—and his eyes hold nothing but ease and invitation.

"To the thousand lives we saved down on that rock today."

Da'biiog Montly. Henrietta Goodwin. Aion Tenna. Alexander Higgins. T'By'laj. Dear Zmathy Ling-Jones. Jim drinks.

"The four hundred plus lives we saved on this ship."

Da'biiog Montly. Henrietta Goodwin. Aion Tenna. Alexander Higgins. T'By'laj. Dear Zmathy Ling-Jones. Jim drinks.

"To the _Enterprise_ and the Captain who makes her fly."

Jim hesitates but Bones waits, slowing turning the glass in hand. Jim runs through the names and the faces those names belong to and the stories those faces belong to. He closes his eyes and tastes the sounds of the names on his tongue alongside the stain of crisp alcohol. He considers the moment he learned that six of his crew—four ensigns, a science officer, and a lieutenant—had died in less than the time it takes him to say all their names. He knew then that he couldn't have done anything differently, that there was nothing he could have done to prepare them or himself for this... Six... One thousand... Four hundred plus... six... one ship, one crew... six... one thousand, four hundred plus a ship and her captain... One, two, three, four, five, six...

He drinks and Bones drinks with him.


End file.
